On the night of Monday 23 March
1925, an eagerly anticipated social occasion was arranged at the house of Mr
John Mathiesson of Point Nepean Road, Moorabbin to raise funds for the
Mentone Catholic Church. But anticipation soon turned to apprehension when
a number of guests from Sandringham failed
to show, amongst the missing was 32 year old electrician, Clarence
Michael Joseph McDonnell (1893-1925)
who was to play the piano for the forty guests.

Shortly after 8:10pm on that
fateful evening, McDonnell of Park Street, South Melbourne, travelling in
his Ford vehicle with wife (Ethel
Lora) Pearl née Keegan (c1895-1925) and infant son Raymond had
collected the last of five passengers from Grange Road, Sandringham.
The group of eight then continued east before heading north along Bluff Road
to Wickham Road. By the time they were 150 yards from the Wickham Road
railway crossing it was just after 8:23pm. The crossing which intersected
with Worthing Road, was manually operated by William George Resuggan
(1865-1932) who resided at the gatekeeper’s cottage on the north-west side
with his wife Florence Emily née Doggett (d 1957) whom he married in
1889 at Buninyong, Victoria; of their nine children, George (Jack)
(1895-1917) served with the 7th Battalion A.I.F and was killed in action at
Passchendaele Ridge on 26 October 1917. Resuggan had been in the employ of
the Railways department since 1888 and gatekeeper at Highett for the last
sixteen years; residents would describe him as “very careful” and
“attentive” who had often “made himself disliked for checking people who
wanted to get through”. Comprising of four gates with a bell warning and
signal system on the ‘down’ line the crossing handled some 160 cars a day.
It was, however, potentially dangerous for trains travelling towards
Frankston; the signal south of Dane Road was just 200 yards away allowing
for less than ten seconds until the train reached the crossing. There
was little margin of error.

At the Moorabbin signal box,
signalman Alfred Read had commenced his evening shift at 3:35pm that day and
was waiting patiently for the 7:31 ‘down’ parcel goods train. Running
fifteen minutes behind schedule due to delays, it finally arrived at 8:23pm.
Shortly after, Read then sent separate warning signals to both the crossing
and Highett station. As the train passed the signal protecting the
crossing, the driver of the train, John McNee, a 35-year veteran with an
“exceptionally good record as a careful driver” noticed the home signal at
“proceed”; at this stage the train was travelling an estimated 39 miles an
hour.

The scene was now set. Just
after 8:20pm, James Cuddigan, a student of Highett was driving north along
Worthing Road with his brother Simon as passenger. The car approached the
crossing and Cuddigan sounded his horn for Resuggan to open the gates;
railway regulations stipulated that after dark, crossing gates must be
closed to road traffic until the last train at midnight. On
hearing the horn, Resuggan came from his cabin and opened the north-eastern
and south-western gates without putting the signal at “danger”. Cuddigan
then continued on his journey and Resuggan closed the south-western gate.
Not far behind within sight approaching the crossing along Wickham Road was
Clarence McDonnell and his eight passengers. Burdened by the heavy load and
the slight uphill incline, the going was slow in the darkness. As it passed
the house of Herbert Chamberlain, the car “did not appear to be going very
well”. Resuggan waited until the vehicle approached the crossing before
opening the north-western gate. “Pull the stick, mum!” he shouted and Mrs
Resuggan put the signal at “danger”. He turned and suddenly noticed the
lights of the approaching ‘down’ parcel train hurtling towards the crossing;
McNee had not seen the signal. “For God’s sake shake it up!”, he pleaded at
McDonnell, but the car was moving slowly at walking pace and he was unable
to increase the speed. Crucial seconds passed, but it was too late and the
train smashed through the crossing killing all the occupants instantly. The
scene was one of utter devastation; bodies were so “shockingly mutilated”
that all “resemblance to a human being had disappeared” and “women in the
crowd uttered hysterical cries and men turned away in horror” when the
coverings were removed to identify the victims. It was to be another two
hours before they were taken to the morgue.

On 7 April, the coronial
inquest before Mr D. Berriman P.M opened at the city morgue; over five days
conflicting evidence was heard from some thirty witnesses. James Montgomery,
engineer from the Railways department gave evidence that warning lights were
fitted on the south-east and south-west gates but as neither gates were open
to road traffic, McNee received no warning. Alfred Murphitt, block and
signal inspector who arrived at the scene shortly after 10:00pm that night,
testified that the signal was “working properly and was in good order” as
was the bell in the gatekeeper’s cabin. Murphitt further stated that he
examined the record at the Moorabbin signal-box and saw that “the warning
had been given” by Read. Albert Stamp, superintendent of locomotive stated
he undertook some tests and found that he “could not get a reasonable view
of [the red warning lights] until…I was 200ft from the gates” as they were
not “focussed on the line” correctly. When asked by the coroner “should the
gatekeeper not be prohibited from opening the gates after he has received
the warning signal” from Moorabbin, he replied “it would make safety more
complete”. Herbert Chamberlain when asked “was the [Moorabbin] municipal
electric light outside the gate burning that night” replied “it was out that
night and the night before”. Mrs Blanche Comber of Mentone who was 50 yards
from the accident gave damning evidence against Resuggan that “he had opened
the gates to let them through into danger”. Resuggan’s son Harold gave
evidence that he had known the “bell to miss on several occasions” and once
“reported to the stationmaster [Edward Fallon] at Highett that the bell was
not working”. John Ashworth, assistant chief engineer for the Railways
department could not “make any suggestion whatever to increase the safety”
of the crossing believing that if “regulations are observed, such things
would not occur”. When an incredulous Coroner said “you say all this,
despite the department’s policy of ‘safety first’” Ashworth replied “that is
only a slogan”. Summing up his verdict, the Coroner found that “there had
been a certain amount of conflict in the evidence” and was “quite prepared
to believe that Resuggan did not hear the warning bell” from Read as not one
witness testified to hearing it ring, but nonetheless found the eight
victims died through his criminal negligence. Bail was given on a surety of
£50 and a personal bond of a like amount.

At the
Court of General Sessions on 10 June before Judge Woinarski and a jury of
twelve, Resuggan pleaded “not guilty” to the charge of manslaughter. After
a three day trial, the jury agreed, finding the tragedy was due to the fault
of the system and not through human negligence. After being taken to the
scene of the collision “where they inspected the crossing, the gates, the
signal and the warning bell”, the jury took the opportunity of making a
number of recommendations to improve safety. The first was “that the gates
and signal should be operated conjointly by the one lever”. The second that
“a bright light be placed in a position to which it will illuminate the
whole of the crossing”, and finally that “the red light on the gate should
be fixed so that it will show at all angles instead of one angle as at
present”.

And so it was left for the
families of the victims to face the appalling reality in what The Age
described as “the most terrible level-crossing smash in the history of the
State”. Six children were left orphans, while another nine were left
without the family breadwinner, the youngest just three years old. For
Clarence McDonnell, his wife and infant son, they left behind two young boys
Vernon aged seven and six year old Keith. Also travelling in the car was
McDonnell’s father, Michael Joseph McDonnell (c1865-1925), market gardener
of Highett Road, Sandringham. The McDonnell's were interred at the
Melbourne General Cemetery.

Bendigo-born Martin Foley
(1888-1925) residing at Mena - Highett Road, Sandringham lived next
door to McDonnell. He was reluctant to leave his wife Evangelina Hilary
née Ruddick (c1889-1972) and six children owing to her dislike of
leaving them behind late at night. A house painter by profession, Foley
served in the Great War with the 10th Army Service Corps (enlisted 11 Sept 1914) before
being invalided home in January 1916 due to rheumatism; a son Robert (b
1919) served with the 14/32 Battalion A.I.F in WWII (VX120115).

Edward Christopher Shacklock
(c1887-1925) and his wife Josephine Saphronia née Ronkey (c1885-1925)
resided at Anabert - Holzer Street, Sandringham with their four
children, Arthur James (b 1908, 144766 Care & Maintenance Unit R.A.A.F
1943-46), (Edward) Harry (b 1910, VX69574 2/25 Field Park Co A.I.F, died 14
Apr 1944), May Bernice (b 1912) and Edward (Teddy) John (b 1914). Married
in 1907 they had intended to go to the local picture show that night but
changed their minds. Shacklock’s father Charles (d 1946) sued the Victorian
Railways Commissioners and was awarded £1,456 under provisions of the
Wrongs Act 1915.

The last of
the victims was Geelong-born Ena Corbett Grace (1906-25) of Grange Road,
Sandringham. Employed as a saleswomen with the local “Semco factory” of
Black Rock, she was the sole support of her family of four; mother Annie
Elizabeth Grace née Grossman (d 1962), and siblings Rannock Pierce
(1913-75, Springvale Necropolis), Valda Margaret (b 1911) and James Albert (1905-61).

They were all interred side by side at the
Brighton General Cemetery on 25 March 1925 after a solemn service before
Rev. Father Mangan of the Church of the Sacred Heart, Sandringham. An
appeal by the Mayor of Sandringham, Cr. F. Gipps for funds for the relief of
dependants of the victims raised over £1,386; John Wren (Boroondara
Cemetery) was believed to have donated £100.